Seems to me like bitcoin is the perfect business opportunity for people with the security skills and know-how to do really really well. The bitcoin world needs solid reputable security professionals to operate the exchanges and wallets. I'd love to hear cperciva's or tptacek's take on bitcoin as a startup opportunity since they are prime examples of people who could startup a bitcoin business and instantly attract people since people would trust them to do what is right.
You mean, financial services? Financial Service companies build trust and relationships with people.
This has nothing to do with "security", and everything to do with "How can I be sure that the other guy isn't a jackass??". Paypal became popular as a financial service to Ebay purchases.
The startups that are running themselves as trustworthy businesses will get ahead. But a year, two years, or even three years is not enough to gain a decent relationship. Lets see if "Coinbase" can weather the storm
The question that needs to be answered is: can Coinbase (and other reputable BTC services) establish a trusted reputation with their customers when so many other BTC services are either disappearing or outright scamming their customers?
Or will the general public look at Coinbase and think "that newfangled unreliable Bitcoin thingy".
The current case has zero problems with technical security - it's the ages-old problem of someone holding money of consumers and then running off with it.
There's a single solution (that bitcoiners tend to dislike) - regulate all such entities, requiring them to (a) verify their identities, and (b) post bonds/statutory capital in proportion to all held funds, to ensure that depositors are paid back if the company folds or turns out to be a fraud, i.e., the same rules as banks have to follow.
